Butte de Mort, Sioux Burial Ground, Upper Missouri

George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872 · 1837-1839

George Catlin probably sketched this image on his Missouri River voyage in 1832, but did not produce a finished painting for several years. In his 1848 Catalogue, Catlin noted that the French called this Sioux burial ground Butte de Mort, or “Hill of Death,” and that the Indians regarded the site “with great dread and superstition. There are several thousand buffalo and human skulls, perfectly bleached and curiously arranged about it.” (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)